Las Vegas festival is Batman-themed

The Las Vegas Review Journal spoke about their local specialty convention, whose latest setup, wouldn't you know it, takes the predictable modern route of using a superhero whose foremost theme is the dark, and a miniseries whose characterization for its star became almost entirely mandatory over the following decade or so:

It was a blockbuster that lived up to its title in more ways than one.

In 1986, DC Comics published Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns,” which hit the industry with a Batman-worthy ka-pow!

At the time, Batman was seen as so passe that his future was in jeopardy, as Stephen King wrote in the foreword to the 400th issue of the comic, in which he acknowledged that he once feared that the superhero would become a “character who had simply slipped away into the quiet hall of obscurity.”

“The Dark Knight Returns,” which King called “probably the finest piece of comic art ever to be published in a popular edition,” changed all that and then some. Not only was it a huge hit with the comic book crowd, but it was carried — and sold well — in actual bookstores.

“‘The Dark Night Returns’ made Batman an iconic, relevant figure again,” says Joe Keatinge, writer and editor-in-chief of “Comics! The Magazine.” “Breathed new life into it.”

Really! What they're saying, in other words, is that, no matter how dark and jarringly violent the stories of the 1970s were when Denny O'Neil and Steve Englehart were leading writers, it didn't help the Masked Manhunter's fortunes in the long run, if at all. Only Miller succeeded in boosting fortunes for the series. This is just plain insulting to the intellect, because, although this article does reference at least 2 more items of note, it doesn't mention any other artists and writers like Chuck Dixon. If he wasn't a guest at this convention because of his conservative credentials, that can be telling something too.

That title, along with successive hits such as “Batman: Killing Joke” and “Batman: Arkham Asylum,” proved to be game changers, ushering in a new era in which comics and graphic novels were increasingly — and legitimately — seen as literature, reaching a whole new audience.

It's so annoying how select writers and titles are cited as the reason the medium supposedly gained wider recognition, mainly because these kind of news reports are curiously omissive of brighter angles like Superman's. As for the Killing Joke special, I wonder why we're not told the plot or premise? It involved Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl, being crippled by the Joker, and perhaps the most disturbing part of production is that, as told by Daily Grindhouse, both Dick Giordano and Len Wein as editors said "go ahead and cripple the b****" to Alan Moore before he began writing it. It's chilling to think, what if they used the C-slur to describe Babs? And then, while Killing Joke may not have originally been intended as canon, they pretty much made it so soon after, recalling a 1990 issue of Suicide Squad was probably the first place where Babs could be seen in her new wheelchair-bound role. It may have led to a great role in Birds of Prey 8 years later. But the way the editors in charge went about it was disgusting, and you can't blame anybody who may believe that's why the door should be left open for Babs to return to a walking role in the years after. It's just a shame that, by the time it occurred in the late 2000s, it was far too late, and was ruined along with plenty of other items by crossovers like Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis.

One of the hosts of the festival is Joe Keatinge, said to be an artist/writer who's worked at Marvel and Image, and he said:

Keatinge will also present a talk on “The Comic Roots of Batman,” in which he’ll trace the evolution of the character from his noir-inspired origins into a brooding Hollywood antihero.

A scene lifer who’s written for Marvel Comics and Image Comics, worked as co-editor of “Popgun” and more, Keatinge has seen firsthand how the comic world has grown in recent decades.

“The industry has caught up with the potential of the art form,” he says. “In practical terms, what we’ve seen since the early 2000s and late ’90s is a major push of comics in schools and in libraries. And so specific titles like Raina Telgemeier’s ‘Smile,’ Jeff Smith’s ‘Bone,’ Dav Pilkey’s ‘Dog Man,’ and ‘Captain Underpants’ built a generation that was used to comics.

“They had exposure to comics at the places that they were being educated,” he continues. “And then grew up and they started going to Barnes & Noble with Mom and Dad, they saw manga, and it had a variety of stories that were much more mature than the ones they were reading. Now, all those people are in their 20s and they can go to comic book stores and seek out the work that’s there.” “I think we’re in for a very interesting five to 10 years in comics,” he predicts. “I really feel like we’re just at the beginning of an era of what I hope will be expansion.”

Oh, I'm sure of that. But what about the Big Two? How well are they going to fare with the way things are going? Even Batman's lost its luster long ago, and they won't admit it. They won't even get into how the 2004 War Games event, and subsequent War Crimes, were some of the worst storylines the Masked Manhunter and cast were put through. And if sales figures matter, I found this item on the site of a writer named R.S Martin, who says the following about DKR:

DC Comics saw its fortunes turn around. Writer-artist Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight, a four-issue limited series in an upscale format--the $2.95 cover price for an issue was almost four times the industry's 75¢ standard--became the sensation of the field. The sales of the series are unknown, although the individual issues are believed to have sold over 300,000 copies each. The end of the spring saw the debut of Watchmen, a 12-issue series by scriptwriter Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, that is believed to have had average per-issue sales of over 200,000. The summer saw the long-awaited revamp of Superman, by writer-artist John Byrne, in the six-issue limited series The Man of Steel. The average sales of each issue is believed to have been in the mid-to-high hundred-thousands.

If this is correct, is that something to truly marvel at? Sorry, but no matter the merit, the answer is "no". So why are we being lectured that DKR, and also Watchmen, were such a big deal? It's plain stupid to tell all this without citing any sales figures or doing hard research.

As for where the industry goes in the coming decade, that remains to be seen. When it comes to independent comics, there can be potential if serious talent is involved. But assuming DC/Marvel are still around then, how will they fare under the same expectations? That's exactly why they don't belong under a conglomerate anymore, and if Skydance Corp, as the new owner of Warner Brothers, has no intention of overseeing improvements and jettisoning the worst DC turned out in the past quarter century, I'm not sure why we have to expect anything good to come from the purchase this year.

Since we're on the subject of conventions/festivals, here's also a report from the Daily Bruin about the LA comicon, where some attendants brought up the worries about AI's influence:

A major concern for Callibur, she added, is the use of artificial intelligence within the comic industry. She said the community generally is worried about AI but also recognizes that AI cannot replicate what it does. Concept designer Gary Montalbano said he noticed people really appreciate human-made work.

“Artwork, writing – what you’re doing is communicating to another human how you’re feeling,” Montalbano said. “It (AI) is just a prediction. … it’s the rise of mediocrity.”

Yes, but it's vital to consider that comicdom fell into artistic mediocrity and worse over 2 decades ago. The same paper also noted how Hollywood movies continue to be too much focus at the convention, and that's why these festivals could be considered outmoded at this point if they won't scale back their focus and make sure the original topics aren't obscured for the sake of too much Hollywood.

Speaking of which, I'm tired of all this constant focus on Batman at the expense of heroes like Superman, and that's something that has to change too. It doesn't mean I'm not a fan of Batman. Quite the opposite. But I still find it utterly appalling how darkness is made into such a big deal, especially if the same advocates aren't interested in emphasizing challenging issues despite all suggestions to the contrary.

Supposedly groundbreaking webcomic called Worm adapted by IDW

Gizmodo announced a webcomic serial called Worm is being turned into more official comics format by IDW:

io9 is thrilled to share the news of Worm‘s first-ever physical release from IDW Publishing, with a creative team that includes writer Meghan Fitzmartin, artist Javier Ortiz, colorist David Vaquero, and letterer Andriy Lukin, as well as McCrae aboard as a consultant.

It makes sense given Worm‘s comic book-ready subject matter, as McCrae explained in a statement provided to io9.

“Worm came about as an attempt to bring superheroes and supervillains, designed as they are for the visual medium of comics, to the printed word. Here, we bring it full circle,” said McCrae. “In talking to IDW, it was refreshing that they knew the work, that they shared many of my thoughts and ideas for updating and revising the work, and that they saw the potential for Worm. I look forward to working with them and have high hopes as we bring Worm into the comics realm.”

Gee, that doesn't sound so original, considering superhero tales were first in the printed word and visual alike almost a century ago. Where does he get off telling something so superficial?

Here’s what the Worm comic is about:

“After enduring a brutal and bloody bullying scandal, Taylor finally has the power to fight back: With her newly triggered ability to control insects, she could prove everyone wrong and become a hero… or kill anyone who stands in her way.”

“In a world of superpowered gang members, fanatical cults, and ruthless serial killers, Taylor must navigate the dangerous politics and unwritten rules of the local ‘cape’ scene, where the line between hero and villain is anything but clear. For Taylor, perhaps, least of all. Will she risk everything to save others, or use her power to exact revenge on those who’ve wronged her?”

Doesn't sound like anything I haven't heard before. When they blur the lines between good and bad, that's an open signal this isn't bound to be a serious focus on the battle of the former to stop the latter, but rather, cheap sensationalism with insects as a plot device.

“I’m so excited and honored to work on Worm with some of the best folks in comics. I came to Worm late in the game, but I was immediately enthralled by the amazing, vibrant world John has built,” Fitzmartin said. “A story about complicated women, people with powers, feminine rage, and folks trying to do the right thing… with varying results? Sign me the fuck up. Javier and David pack a powerhouse of a punch onto every page, giving Worm the brutal, tempestuous love Taylor, Armsmaster, and the Undersiders deserve.”

What, is this supposed to be a metaphor for feminist ideology?!? I don't know, but if it's about the likelihood the lead's going to kill people, that only sullies everything, and what's so vibrant about a story built on bloody violence anyway?

Also note who one of the main editors of Worm happens to be:

Added IDW executive editor Heather Antos, “Worm is such a fresh and compelling take on the superhero genre, challenging what it means to be a hero or a villain, and whether right and wrong are always so black and white when you’re fighting for what you believe is good. Getting to collaborate with series creator John McCrae to bring this incredible world to comics with IDW is an absolute thrill, and it’s especially exciting that this project came to IDW through series editor and IDW associate editor Cassandra Jones, whose own personal connection to the story first introduced us to it, and the team has already done an excellent job bringing the characters to the comics page.”

And of course, the editor of this comic is somebody who proved quite a moral hypocrite when she worked at Marvel, and Valiant. What she says about right and wrong is fishy too, another reason to avoid this indie project. To think, that IDW would "rebuild" themselves centering around crude, cliched thrillers like this is just sad. And where do they get the money from to continue publishing anyway?

There's nothing groundbreaking about Worm. It's another demonstration of why we need more creators proving they can give focus to something brighter and more inspiring.

Frank Miller goes to an Italian specialty store convention, and says he's glad there's less film adaptations lately

Miller continues his current PR tour abroad, and IGN tells about their meeting with him at an Italian event, where he announced he's producing a new sci-fi comic, a genre I myself can't say I've known him for putting a big emphasis on:

Sin City: Blood & Dust is just one of several projects Miller is currently developing. He was asked if there were any particular books in the works he was especially excited to show to readers. Miller singled out Invasive Species, a new Dark Horse Comcis project that was announced at SDCC 2026 this past summer.

Invasive Species is a sci-fi comic that pairs Miller with artist Ryan Benjamin and colorist Alex Sinclair. Details about the book's plot were scarce before now, but Miller shed more light on it during the panel, revealing it to be a microscopic invasion story inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Invasive Species is what I'm particularly charged up about," Miller said. "It's a project I conceived during the height of the COVID pandemic where everyone was afraid to sneeze within a hundred yards of anybody else because everybody was so afraid and everyone was wearing masks. I think people were showering their masks. It was so paranoid. But what it reminded me of was those wonderful 1950s alien movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Invaders From Mars and so on. They were all fear of a Russian invasion."

Miller continued, "But I thought we had biological warfare talk everywhere every which way now we've got viruses that we're all afraid of and as guys all locked inside not talking to each other. And I thought what perfect metaphor for our times. And so I made up a story where we were being invaded not by a bunch of spaceships, but by a virus, by little aliens that got inside, came in our ears."

I do wonder if he's implying Russia's communists weren't a problem? I don't know. What I do know is that even "little aliens" can be conceived traveling in spaceships too, if you use your imagination. So why make it sound like that's not the case?

One of the more interesting developments in the comic book world this year came when Miller was among numerous artists tapped to draw a cover for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #300. Miller is famously credited as a huge source of inspiration behind Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's original TMNT comics, so it was a fun case of life imitating art.

We asked Miller for his thoughts on finally contributing to the TMNT franchise in an official capacity. He revealed that IDW didn't exactly have to twist his arm to get him on board.

"There's no agenda to all this stuff," Miller said. "They were kids when they were doing it in their clunky black-and-white comic. No one dreamed they would turn out to have this amazing property, which I think one of the main things they had was one of the best titles in history. So when they asked, I said, 'Sure.' I mean, they were big fans of mine and I thought that this will be fun. And then I sat down and said, 'What do I do with these guys?' I said, 'Well, look, stack them up.' I did it and they were real happy."

Seriously? This was the same company that enabled a bizarre insult to a female character, and he's saying there's no agendas? Even if Ninja Turtles wasn't the series now plagued with a problem, there've still been various others, and Chris Ryall as an editor did a poor job on his part. Sugarcoating stuff like this doesn't help matters. Miller was even asked whether he'd want to try working as a filmmaker again, after the botch he made of adapting Will Eisner's Spirit, and they even had the gall to downplay the film's badness:

The Spirit wasn't exactly well-received, critically or commercially, but it certainly brought a unique visual flourish to the property. We asked Miller if he had any desire to return behind the camera and direct another film at some point.

"Sure. Yeah. I mean, come on," Miller said. "It's an amazing field. It's an amazing form and it's like nothing else in the world."

All Miller's adaptation did was make another mockery of Eisner's works, and it owed more to the former's visions than the latter's.

SciFi Now also brought up his collaborations with artist Peach Momoko, and why he decided to take up the partnership:

For Miller, the collaboration offered the chance to explore an aspect of Japanese storytelling he said he had never really tackled before: horror.

“What I really got to explore more was something I’d really never explored,” Miller explained. “I’d seen some Japanese anime and Japanese manga that included horror stories, and they have a completely different concept of what horror is.”

Miller pointed to the work of Japanese printmaker Tsukioka Yoshitoshi while discussing the traditions behind Japanese supernatural stories, before explaining how working with Momoko allowed him to see those ideas interpreted through her distinctive style.

“There’s a very female sense and vitality to the supernatural in Japanese ghost stories,” he said. “And so to work with Peach, I got to throw her stories that involved the supernatural, and then to see what she conjured.

“Some of it was a lot scarier than anything I would imagine.”

Coming from the creator of Sin City, Ronin and The Dark Knight Returns, that’s quite an endorsement.

I thought he already came close to working in the horror genre, based on what Sin City's like. In any event, all he's doing is confirming he's not interested in taking up projects and assignments with a brighter angle, and that's insulting to the intellect. Certainly lethargic. All that aside, his claim there's a female sense to ghost tales or horror thrillers from Japan is absurd, because there's some that're just plain loathsome too, and some I don't find any more appealing than Miller's work.

Miller was also interviewed by Variety at the event, and he told them he's "relieved" there's less comics movies now:

Would you agree that there has been a slight dip in the comic book to movie pipeline?

I would hope so. Yeah, really. It had really gotten so out of control that comics had started losing much of their own identity. I have been arguing vehemently for comics to start asserting their own purpose again and asserting their own identity as a literary form.

Do you think there were too many comic book artists and writers aiming for movie and TV deals?

Oh, without question. Just because the appeal of not just the money, but the fame, respect and glory of working in the most powerful medium in history is undeniable, but I think that it was a little too heady a wine, in that comics were really in danger of losing their souls in the process.

It very much seemed to be superhero movies in particular.

Oh, that was all it was. It was partly because the technology caught up with us. So the one thing comics could do that nobody else could do was the ridiculous pyrotechnics and everything, right? But if you think of it, the die was cast back in the 1970s with the movie slogan “You’ll believe a man can fly” where they actually made Superman’s flight convincing, and now they can do, you know, virtually anything that can be imagined.

Some could argue the tug of Tinseltown got the better of Miller too. But technology hasn't exactly caught up, or it's not like CGI results in the most spectacular adventures either. Amazing he feels this way, because yes, there've arguably been too many comics movies or emphasis on the same, and too many in live action, making a mockery of what potential animation could do for the pyrotechnics he speaks of. But what he won't get into, alas, is how artistic quality plummeted over the past several years, and there was an increasing number of films laced with leftist metaphors. Some may have been subtle, but they were there, one more reason why they won't age well. And then, wouldn't you know it, allusions to Miller's politics come up:

As well as the heroes, you create astonishing, extreme worlds. But it seems that we live in a world which is almost impossible to exaggerate.

I often have remarked that doing the next “Martha Washington” would be difficult because the first one happened. And my parody of Ronald Reagan is now in the White House, right? But there’s always somewhere else to go. Now you would parody what my country has turned into, and what the world has turned into, it’s fascinating dark material, indeed.

It’s almost like Dante looking at hell and going, “I see some verses here.”

There’s no shortage of inspiration now. This is indeed a supercharged time, because in the course of the 20th century, there were two gigantic realignments, through the two world wars, particularly World War II, which was a gigantic, unifying event. World War II was the advent of American hegemony, but now we’re at the other side of the American hegemony. America has become much like Rome: spread so far and so rich and powerful that it has lost its center. It is no longer Thomas Jefferson’s country, for instance. It is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. It’s become quite a bloated thing, and of course this is exactly when we start waving the flag more than ever, right?

When I see the MAGA signs I ask whether by saying “again,” you are saying that it’s not great. There are so many contradictions within all of that, but this is a global situation. The old order is, as Bob Dylan put it, rapidly aging, and so everywhere you look, there’s an empire crumbling. Look at the thrashing old Soviet Union, right? And what it’s dissolving into, when a tiny brave country is bringing it to its knees. China has become a paranoid concentration camp. So we’re definitely seeing a change in the matrix. Speaking of the Chinese, this does bring to mind the old curse: May you live in interesting times. We live in interesting times, don’t we?

Does he pay any attention to how bad New York and California have become as a result of Orwellian policies? Some residents have been leaving those areas in past years as a result. If that's what MAGA supporters are talking about, Miller sure isn't listening. I'm surprised he's willing to admit though, that China's a bad lot today based on their communist rulership, which came about at least partly because of western politicians refusing to oppose them any more than Russia's. Yet something tells me that, despite what he says, Miller's not particularly interested in campaigning for an end to communism/socialism/marxism as a form of rulership. And then, if we were to point to the positive, does Miller approve of Trump's efforts to improve the industry and economy? I guess he just can't bring himself to find anything good about what the Trump administration does now. Towards the interview's end, he says:

What next?

Well, I’m working with the great Italian artist Milo Manara, who is renowned for his erotic and often funny comic book work. He asked me on stage once if I would write a “Sin City” story for him. He’s the only artist I could ever imagine doing one with, because I’ve always drawn them all myself. But this is the one exception I’ll make because … I told him on stage, being glib: Yes, I’ll do it but he’d have to learn how to draw women.

But how, exactly? I know Manara drew a rather absurd take on Spider-Woman's rear end over a decade ago, but if Miller expects Manara to "overcorrect", and make women less attractive, that'll be hugely disappointing, to say nothing of prolonging a disturbing trend of wokeness in the past decade. In any case, Sin City is not something I want to waste time and money on, and Miller can only seem to drone on and on with little of value in his recent interviews. Beyond his Daredevil/Batman work, he's had little else to care about, and again, his artwork is very mediocre today, proving he's way past his prime in that field too.

What good does it do to celebrate Black Lightning's 50th anniversary with the way it's co-creator is behaving?

Recently, Comic Book Club Live announced DC will be celebrating the 50th year since Black Lightning was introduced to the DCU, but what's sad aside from this being much too late is that co-creator Tony Isabella still insists on identifying as transsexual:

Wonder Woman isn’t the only DC Comics character celebrating an anniversary next year… DC will also fete Jefferson Pierce with DC Power: Black Lightning 50th Anniversary Special, a 48-page one-shot featuring a main story from Jenny Isabella, Brandon Thomas, and Fico Ossio.

“I’m excited about the special,” said Isabella via press release provided to Comic Book Club. “As the old lady of the team, I get to work with a bunch of talented ‘youngsters’ who love and respect my creation. Plus, we have an alternate cover by my pal Trevor Von Eeden, the first artist who drew Black Lightning and who is justifiably considered a co-creator of the character and his world. I had a blast returning to these characters. It’s a book that brings the action, the drama, the sense of peril, and the fun. So much fun.”

Another example of how Tony continues to insult intellects, and confuse anybody new to the products by otherwise erasing his background as a man. Does he really think it's that easy to overlook all that, along with how his far-left politics continue to overshadow and dampen the impact of his portfolio? On which note, here's an example from 2 weeks ago where he repeats his chillingly nasty attacks on conservatives:

If you vote MAGA, you are one of those maniacs. You are okay with crooks and pedophiles, racists and rapists,You think every immigrant is an illegal immigrant and deserving of brutality. You aren't concerned if U.S. citizens are arrested, beaten and even killed. Until it happens to you, of course.

You see a demented pervert tearing apart Washington D.C. because he doesn't think he will ever not be president and you don't care. You don't even care that he and his family have made billions by using his office for profit.

I don't know what's wrong with your brains and souls if you are a MAGA supporter. I know I don't want you in my life. I know that I will be secretly happy if bad things happen to you and, in some cases, publicly happy.

Love the queer people in your lives. We bring so much to this country and the world. Your lives will be diminished if we are erased. And, eventually, they will come for you. Because Trump Republicans will always need some group to demonize. Your fear gives them power.

All this from the same disgrace who hinted he was fine with the Charlie Kirk tragedy. And of course, he vehemently refuses to recognize that even LGBT practitioners can commit offensive crimes. Interestingly, over a decade ago, Isabella wrote the following about Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld, in the comments section of the otherwise awful Comics Beat website:

As a comics shop owner when the first issue of the original series came out, I complained to DC about the attempted rape. I pointed out that the heroine was actually an underage girl, which made it not “merely” attempted rape but attempted rape of a child. I was told that hadn’t occurred to the editor. Well, that makes it okay then.

I think he got it backwards: Gemworld was Amethyst's dimension of origin, where she was actually 5-6 years older. As "Amy Winston" in our world, she was younger in that mode. And Comics Beat, in hindsight, was trying little more than to create drama without even condemning Identity Crisis, where the topic of sexual violence was dealt with very poorly and repellently. That said, with the way Isabella's going now, he cannot make such cases so easily when for all we know, he could be trying to use actual women's bathrooms, using a protected class status to deny them the right to object. He throughly ignores some of the worst incidents involving men in disguise like himself, and then does what could be called borrowing a page from Hitler's playbook, if to use a description veteran actress Tovah Feldshuh recently did for her revolting co-star Adam Brody on Netflix's Nobody Wants This after he attacked Israel, and claimed the victim is the perpetrator. Isabella sure has abandoned a lot of reason over the years for the sake of his new path, and in doing so, he threw women's dignity under the bus, effectively making it impossible to claim he cares when he turns his back on cases like these.

Since we're on the topic, I discovered how the veteran animation and comics writer Mark Evanier is now talking about Isabella. If we were to refer to last year when this first sadly took place, Evanier said at the time:

That's a photo of my longtime friend Tony Isabella. We met by mail around 1967, by phone around 1968 and in person at the 1970 New York Comic Art Convention. Part of me is sad because there is no more Tony Isabella.

But this is not an obit. You see, that person is still alive. He's just no longer Tony Isabella…and here's where I get into what Daffy Duck would call "Pronoun Trouble." She is now Jenny Blake, having announced today that she has transitioned to what she feels is the proper gender identification for her. I've known about this for a while and as far as I'm concerned, the only bad part of this is the Pronoun Trouble it creates.

He then goes on to tell how some time ago, he knew another guy who took up transsexual lifestyle, and it doesn't sound like he ever argued that the poor guy was making a mistake. More recently, Evanier continued to talk about Isabella at June's Bill Finger awards:

Jenny Blake Isabella broke into comics under the birthname of Tony Isabella on Halloween 1972, being hired as an editorial assistant at Marvel Comics. The name Tony Isabella soon appeared as editor on Marvel's British line as well as their line of black-and-white magazines in America. Soon, it also appeared in the writing credits of various Marvel comics, including Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, The Champions, the Tigra feature in Marvel Chillers, and It!, The Living Colossus. For DC Comics, he wrote Hawkman and co-created Black Lightning with artist Trevor VonEeden. In 2025, she came out as transgender as Jenny Blake Isabella, as depicted in her autobiographical story for the anthology comic, DC Pride 2025.

And then, in July, at Comicon:

...He used to be Tony Isabella, writer of many fine comic books, Black Lightning among them. Now she is Jenny Blake Isabella, writer of other fine comic books, her contribution to DC Pride 2025 among them. Last night, I had the honor/joy of presenting her with the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing and she gave one of the all-time great acceptance speeches. I think I'll stay friends with this person for another 55 years.

"This person"? It's clear Evanier's beside himself, realizes this is something like Hans Christian Andersen's Emperor's New Clothes tale, noticing he amazingly has the audacity to acknowledge this is a "he" Evanier's talking about, but then, when it comes to the time Isabella decided to take an extreme politically motivated direction in February 2025, Evanier absurdly goes the Orwellian route and refers to Isabella from that point on as "she". Seriously, Mark's not doing himself or anybody else any favors by making himself look ridiculous like that, even if he is a leftist himself. I won't say Evanier's the worst of his kind, but with the way he's approaching all this, unable to take an objective position on LGBT ideology and Isabella's identity politics, it's enough to wonder if maybe Evanier would be better off working at a pretzel factory, because he sure is tying himself up in knots trying to make this sound logical, but only ends up twisting and turning all over the place in pure theater of the absurd fashion. I feel sorry for Mark in a way that he's doing this, because much like Isabella, I have to take even Evanier's resume with a grain of salt as a result, or separate the art from the artist.

Now, back on the subject of Black Lightning, Isabella also told the following:

The official Black Lightning creators credit is "Created by Tony Isabella with Trevor von Eeden."

DC approved this and agreed to refer to me as "creator" and Trevor as "co-creator." This recognizes that all the Black Lightning story elements were created by me before I pitched the character to DC.

Any previous published work by me is credited to Tony Isabella.

Any new work is credited to Jenny Blake.

I'm fine with being referred to as Jenny Blake Isabella in promotional material. I'm not fine with Jenny Isabella.

Which suggests he's continuing to try and erase his logical history and family name. What is going on? From what I noticed him writing of recent, it sounds like he's also distancing himself from the crowds he used to go with, and spending more time with the LGBT crowds, even as he seemingly still leads connections with folks like Evanier. Speaking of which, is Evanier okay with the disturbing tirades Isabella posted against conservatives and such?

This is one of the leading reasons why it's hard to celebrate 50 years since Black Lightning was first created, because the co-creator's chilling rants against anybody he disagrees with makes it difficult, and even before that, DC already ruined everything over 2 decades ago. It's really heartbreaking Isabella has to be this way, and additionally sad his buddies won't try to dissuade him from being so extreme. This is a prominent reason why comicdom's been devastated so horribly.

Avatar: Seven Havens cartoon pushes LGBT ideology

A few weeks ago, a writer at the Federalist said the most recent followup to the Last Airbender cartoon is pushing LGBT ideology on children:

Forcing LGBT ideology onto children is not a new phenomenon for Hollywood. So, it wasn’t exactly surprising when Paramount’s latest show for kids attempted to do just that.

On Friday, the company’s Paramount Plus streaming service debuted its new Avatar: Seven Havens series. Set within the Avatar universe, the animated show takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the avatar — who can bend the elements of water, earth, fire, and air — is branded the enemy. The program follows the journey of Pavi and Nisha, twin sisters who discover that they’re twin avatars and must hide their abilities.

Seven Havens is a sequel to The Legend of Korra (2012-2014), which followed the original (and beloved) Avatar: The Last Airbender series (2005-2008). Seven Havens and Korra are rated PG, while The Last Airbender is rated TV-Y7, according to IMDb.

Seven Havens introduces viewers to a variety of new characters in its three-episode premiere. Among these is Jae, a male airbender who serves as a guardsman on the bending force tasked with protecting the city of Ellora, where the series takes place.

The show’s LGBT indoctrination rears its head in the third episode, when viewers learn that Jae is dating his fellow guardsman Datu. In one scene, Jae is escorting Pavi and Nisha back to the city’s compound before he gets abruptly stopped and embraced by Datu. Seeking to protect the girls from potential harm, Jae quickly lies about their true identities before kissing Datu on the cheek as he leaves.

The Korra cartoon also had allusions to LGBT ideology towards the end, and if these particular cartoons are indeed aimed at children, it's enough at this point to feel hugely disappointed and disgusted at how Hollywood approached animation decades earlier, because arguably, it led to a whole situation in modernity where, instead of proving seriously that they can market cartoons for adults too, they exploit the whole medium for kiddie indoctrination. What's the use of even having a cartoon industry if this was all they could think of doing over the years, pushing the vast majority of animated TV shows and films for children while failing to prove they had the courage to build it up for adult consumption too. Of course, even today, long after the industry seemingly produced more for adults, they still fail to demonstrate the same kind of sophistication Japanese animation does. Then again, does anime's industry prove much better? They can be pretty crude and offensive too in their own way, sometimes even worse when they put acts of sexual abuse into their scripts for cheap sensationalism, which understandably damaged the perception of anime, resulting in a form of counterpart for the downside of modern USA animation.

For now, I think the whole Airbender franchise is decidedly long out of fuel, and the recent case of their DEI voice casting didn't help matters either. Perhaps if somebody could at least show the audacity to market for adults instead, then there'd at least be some justification for this nonsense.

Musician buys not one, but two Action Comics #1 back issues on the speculator market

Louder/Metal Hammer reports a drummer from System of a Down band bought not just one, but two back issues of Action Comics' premiere from 1938:

System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan, who is also the proprietor of Torpedo Comics, a store in Irvine, CA, and the publisher of two comic books, Ascensia and Dead Samurai, has purchased a copy of what's been described as the "Mona Lisa of books": the first issue of Action Comics.

Dolmayan purchased the comic, which was published in 1938 and features the first appearance of Superman, for $825,000 – more than ten times the average annual salary in the US – and it's his second copy.

Earlier this year, Dolyman shared a picture of another copy, saying, "I dreamed of owning this book for years. I know it’s just a materialistic possession, but damn, it makes me happy when I look at it."

The drummer's latest copy of the comic was sold at New York Comic Con earlier this month by Metropolis Collectibles.

So here we have an example of somebody who not only makes a joke out of the medium by buying classic back issues he's bound to be storing out of sight, he even buys more than one copy of the same issue to virtue signal. And this can even give a clue why the NYCC isn't a good convention if this is what they're going to be party to, rather than focus more fully promoting the art form as ideal reading material. IMO, conventions have to move away from giving any backing to the speculator market, and sadly, that's unlikely to happen, even though distancing themselves from said market could do a lot of good for the comics industry's reputation.

Healthcare and the four color panels

The Scientist writes about how the comics medium can help convey the topics of medical care:

Nearly two decades ago, Ian Williams enrolled in a fine arts program after completing his medical education. “I had two sides of my career,” said Williams, now a physician at The Hove Practice and cartoonist. “I had the medicine and I had the art side of it, and the languages of those two worlds were completely different.”

Hoping to find some common ground in these fields, he signed up for a master’s degree in medical humanities at Swansea University. During this time, he encountered a couple of graphic novels about cancer, prompting him to choose healthcare narratives in comics and graphic novels as his dissertation topic.

He soon went down a rabbit hole and found other comics about cancer and mental health and coined the term “Graphic Medicine” to denote the intersection of medicine and graphic novels. As a hobby, in 2007, he set up a website reviewing some of the graphic novels that had medical context. “Putting up this website literally changed my life,” Williams said, explaining that people soon got in touch with him to share their own experiences of using comics for healthcare education or to share their medical experiences.

Today, his graphic medicine website—that Williams coedits—catalogs graphic novels that can help in education and patient care. Members of this online community highlight the role that comics can play in healthcare, with the discipline broadly including memoirs of illness, educational comics for medical students and patients, and much more. In addition to the online community, people involved with graphic medicine also hold conferences around the world, with like-minded people sharing their experiences of using comics in healthcare.

With increasing popularity of graphic medicine across the globe, experts have also highlighted the utility of comics to critique the medical profession as well as in patient care. Researchers even explored the therapeutic possibilities of this discipline, with some of them arguing that drawing can help patients resolve their chaos through creative expression.

It's just like various other forms of science, where researchers and specialists are recognizing how useful they can be as educational tools. I think it's great comics have come to be viewed as a perfect vehicle for medical research, and I'm sure it'll avail the medical industry in the future.

What would be the best tablet for digital readers?

That's what BGR is talking about, and why you shouldn't be fooled by a lousy one on the market:

There are several e-readers you can pick from if you prefer to read digital books. You can even use them to read graphic novels and comic books, but if you are looking to flip through pages of your favorite superhero, you may want to consider one specific Kindle. Especially if you want to read a comic book in color, there is only one choice among Amazon's Kindle e-reader lineup. The Kindle Colorsoft, as the name suggests, includes colors instead of the Kindle's typical black and white text and backgrounds. It's an excellent pick for comic book fans who wish to view their large collection of digital comic books on Amazon in color. Each page, spread, and sheet of the comic or graphic novel is brought to life through nitride LEDs that, according to Amazon, improve color and enhance the overall brightness of the screen so each issue mirrors its physical edition.

Amazon has a few options available for the Kindle Colorsoft, all at various price points. The starting price is around $289.99 for the Kindle Colorsoft. The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is around $319.99, with the Kindle Colorsoft Kids being about $299.99. There's also the Amazon Kindle Scribe Colorsoft for a bit more at around $679.99. You may even be able to find a comic based on some great movies you didn't know were comic adaptations.

But there are some editions that don't always have the best color palettes available:

Some tech reviews found that the color on the Kindle Colorsoft may not be as full of life as physical comics or other e-readers. When compared to another tablet — specifically an iPad, which may be worth buying if you want louder colors — the color on the Kindle Colorsoft seems to be muted and dull. The color on the iPad appears to be brighter and much more vibrant. Still, you do get color on the Kindle Colorsoft for a lower price than the cost of a new iPad, which can start at around $449.

Which is expensive, but, as I've learned over the years, tablets can have important advantages, and if to read comics on them, they can come in useful, so you have to hope you can find the best operational tablets on the market for digital comics consumption.

But also, lest we forget, just like the tablets, you have to choose the comics carefully by merit too, because bad stories aren't worth wasting good hard drives over. Good stories are what make the modern technology worth it.